Yet, Native cultures honored dreams and many would set aside times for everyone to share their dreams. It would be decided which ones would be acted out, examined, or put into stories or art.
I was taught as a child to honor my dreams and I have kept a dream journal for years and years. I was taught that dreams were in several different categories:
--Daily dreams, that talk about the emotions and activities of the day or time period.
--Then there were big dreams which gave information that was needed. They could also be prophetic in nature. These were discussed and acted upon.
--Then there were Medicine dreams in which some ceremony or spiritual information was given. These were especially honored.
Recently I was given a strong Medicine Dream. Afterwards, I made a collage of the dream.
I would like to share it with you:
SNAKE DREAM
In this dream I am outside on a hill. I am sitting on a big chair-shaped rock. There is a large waist-high flat topped rock beside me and I have my arm resting on it. I am enjoying being there, looking out over the view.
I can hear some interesting sound in the distance. I listen closely, but am not sure what it is. As I listen, the sound gets closer and now I think it is a little like a whale song combined with bird songs and toning. I have never heard anything like this before. The sound is very soothing and I drift with it.
Then as the sound gets near me, I notice a group of rattlesnakes on the rocks and ground near me. I am not afraid of them. Rattlesnakes have been with me since childhood and they are one of my totems. It is then that I realize that the sounds I am hearing are from the rattlesnakes. It is their “song”!
I relax into their song. I can feel their energy. It is compassionate and very loving.
Then I see a large rattlesnake on the rock beside me. I feel its love-energy enveloping me.
I look at the snake and it says to me, “Don’t be afraid. I will not hurt you. It is time! It is NOW! I have come to welcome you to our family.” Then it says, “I am going to give you a little of my venom. It will not hurt you, but it will bind you to us and we will be as one.”
The rattlesnake then carefully leaned over my arm and gently gave a little prick with one of its teeth and gave me a drop of venom. I felt the prick. The snake then gave me a huge energy embrace and said: “Welcome to our family!” The other snakes began to sing more loudly and all chimed in saying: “Welcome to our family!”
I woke up.
I could still hear the snake song in the far distance.
I felt that this really happened. I was wondering if it was truly a dream. I quickly looked at my arm to see if I could see where the rattlesnake bit me. Instead, I imagined that I saw a heart there (for the love-energy of the snake that I felt.)
I was in the energy of the dream for quite awhile. Several days later I kept getting the urge to create an art piece about this dream. I was taught by my Grandfather when I was young to honor the dream and do some action about it. The art is a collage that has digital time running on the side, the music symbol, and the snake that talked to me as well as the other snake representing the family of snakes. My arm has the heart where I was bitten and naturally the name of the piece is "Family."
"Snake Dream" collage and story by LFIRE(c)2015Related Blogs: The Grandfather Stories
Blueberry Time: http://www.curezone.org/blogs/fm.asp?i=1944751#i
Gathering Herbs: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1884265
Making Maple Syrup: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1815117
Spring Song: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1779014
Companion Piece to this story is my poem
"Corn Song": http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1788262
Squirrels: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1766705
Winter: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1752146
The Five Stones: Grandfather teaches me about the Five Stones of Living http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1742716
The Give Away: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1707146
Ordinary Day: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1661612 Grandfather teaches me about being grateful for each day and the "ordinary" things of life.
Grandfather and the Breezes: http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1625807